Snö

Snö evokes a tender winter warmth for Blossom & Bill who first met and courted in the romance of a Scandinavian winter.

There is something magical about waking up and finding the world blanketed by snow. It brings out the child in all of us. And we realise that the child in us should be allowed out far more often.



Snowflakes themselves hold a magical complexity that even now cannot be explained. All snowflakes are different, that's alot of different forms! It is not known how they stick together and although clear, snow is white due to the scattering of light caused by those intricate shapes.

Many books have been written about snow or set in a snow wrapped landscape. The latest is a fine edition called "The Snow Tourist" by Charlie English. Charlie explores the planet for the best snow and flows with humour and insight.









Charlie has nominated his Top Ten Snow Books, all of them are worth a read;

1. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
3. The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
4. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
5. Waldon by Henry David Thoreau
6. The Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht and Patricia Rasmussen
7. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
8. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
9. An Account of the Arctic Regions by William Scoresby Jr
10. Snow by Ruth Kirk

Blossom & Bill's personal favourite is Peter Hoeg's book that settles into the soul like a melting snowflake.




Blossom & Bill Assorted Festive Greeting cards by ISAK £10 for a pack of 8.

Dining Table and Sofa? YUP!

As if it wasn't obvious enough how much I adored the show Top Design (Eddie and Nathan in particular), I'm going to keep talking about it even when it's over. The show was silly sometimes but other times very inspirational and brought forth many design questions/issues. Remember the episode with those (ridiculous) Swarovski Crystal chandeliers? In Eddie's dining room that he designed, he put a sofa on one side of the dining table and chairs on the other. I was completely bewildered with the judges said they had never seen this idea before. I had seen it countless times in Domino and House Beautiful and had even used that idea in a school project! Anyway, I've collected some examples of this being done. Enjoi!

Tom Scheerer put this elegant sofa on one side of this breakfast/tea table. I think it looks very calming and draws your eye to the windows.

This one also leads your eye to the window but also give you something to settle on visually as these windows are floor to ceiling and there appears to be a lot of open space.
By architect Joeb Moore from Kaehler/Moore.

How elegant and cosy does this sweet little table look with these small sofas? From House to Home. I love the colors in this room too; perfectly feminine and inviting.

On the back wall they placed a gorgeous loveseat. From Domino.

You don't always have to have a sweet delicate little arrangement. Here, Alessandra Branca puts a heavy trestle table with an armless seat and matching high backed upholstered chairs.

I think the lesson learned here is, use a sofa with interest; some sort of embellishment or beautiful fabric. Also, don't have the sofa with it's back to you as you enter the room. Has anybody ever done this? I'd love to see pictures! I think it's a very sweet idea and when I have a small sofa I would use it in my breakfast room (when I have a breakfast room too). Perfect.


Alicia B.

Oscar de la Renta: Swoon

I just got the new Vogue for this month and of course flipped DIRECTLY to the spread on Oscar De La Renta's home in Connecticut. No, he's not an interior designer, but interior design and fashion work incredibly close together. It's so interesting to watch the trends work off each other. Anyway, Oscar De La Renta is an incredible designer, let's just get that out of the way because it's obvious. His house in the Connecticut countryside (as well as his wife) is gorgeous/adorable. Take a look:

In the article, he loved the house but his wife didn't so he "gave" her the bedroom because it is her favorite room. Isn't that so sweet? Look at the incredible architectural detailing here. The bed isn't really my taste (a little bit to frou frou) but it looks perfect for his adorable and elegant wife.

He uses more of that floral motif (as in the bedroom above) in the wallpaper here and it matches the drapery as well. And on the right, that chair is so classic and weird; I love it.

This style might not be everyone's taste, but I think it's beautiful. If you look at every little bit of this room, each part is so personal. You can really tell that each object has been collected; it might have a special meaning or a story to it. Plus, how can you not love the mouldings and the slightly rounded ceiling in this room? I DIE.

Oscar (we're now on a first name basis) says that he bought the house for the view/property that it was on. Well played ODLR. Well played.


Alicia B.

Swiss Family Treehouse ingenious watering at Tokyo Disneyland

Cecilia in the 25 year old gardens of Tokyo Disneyland, Autumn 2008

All you need to make this 100 percent natural rainwatering system for your outdoor room is a very big tree, forest foraging, and a 19th century shipwreck.
If you are really into Permaculture, you may find yourself stuck for a long time in this six-story high tree, pondering and marveling at how it really, really might work (if only the mosquito excluding net was finer!)

It all starts with a flowing stream under the tree, which both powers the whole contraption, and supplies the fresh water to be scooped up to the top of the canopy.
A rope-ladder of bobbing bamboo vessels carries the water up, letting them swing over at the top of their circuit, and splash their water into the bamboo pipe aquaduct.

Which then carries water as desired to all the 'rooms' of the tree house.

Here is the grow-it-yourself kitchen, with ingenious food storage, a coolgardie safe, and everything you would need to whip up a tropical dinner.
A washing up sink to make everyone happy. Except maybe the Clam.
An imagination-inducing study would be quite necessary, for thinking up such impressive inventions.

And good sturdy vessels for holding everything up and together.


At the very very top of the tree, with a dizzying view of Tokyo bay, is where the Robinson boys sleep and dream the usual dreams: the pleasures of love and family and resourcefulness, the terrors of the dark, the unknown, the future (weak and alone?) The aspirations to one day go somewhere far, far away.

We are all frightened, life-loving, resourceful castaways. With everything we need already around us.

A little Christmas tour

Melissa at The Inspired Room (a great blog to keep up with!!)asked for some Holiday post--So here's what I have done so far.
The mantel.





The little niche near the front door. I usually load this up with my Nutcracker collection-but I wanted something more modern. I love all the glass jars filled with things- so I gathered every vase and jar I could find- pulled out my ornaments and bought some cheap faux snow at Walmart ($2.00 a bag!) added a little ribbon and ta-da!









I also filled one of my glass lidded jars with green Christmas balls for my kitchen dining table. Subtle but nice.





I am now working on a brown and blue tomato cage tree for my bedroom- that post to come soon!

Plaid Love

Isn't this Ralph Lauren tablescape so cozy/beautiful? I don't think I would change one thing about it.

Ever since I took a look at the new Loro Piana interiors collection (yesterday) I've been loving on plaids (more than usual) for interiors. They look so cozy and warm and I definitely need that since, if you are in New York today you might have frostbite (me). Plaids are coming in different forms, window pane, tartan, gingham, etc. Here are some you could...warm up to? Wow.

Nathan Egan loves this wool plaid from Rogers and Goffigon. I do too.

This comfortable and classic looking interior was designed by John Peixinho with a tartan plaid bench in front of the fireplace. In Newport, RI.

Mixing tartans is allowed too! From Domino.

Designed by David Mitchell this mix of different neutrals and beiges is carried by those two chairs in Rogers and Goffigon wide gingham print.

I SUPER love these two chairs. They are covered in Colfax and Fowler Lanark plaid.

Jeffrey Bilhuber covered these two chairs in a soft Bahagalpur plaid by Shyam Ahuja.

Through looking, I think the best places for plaids are Ralph Lauren Home, Colefax and Fowler as they are a British company, Holland and Sherry for plaids, tweeds and herringbones, and of course Loro Piana. Am I a stodgy old British man? Hmm.

Alicia B.

Loro Piana Interiors: Amazingness

I've always loved Loro Piana for their classic preppy style clothing (that I can't afford) so imagine my INTENSE GLEE when I saw they are designing fabrics for interiors, too! It is a to-the-trade only high end collection of cashmeres and linens and a line of carpets. Here is the interiors part on the website. So gorgeous!

These fabrics look so luxurious. I love how textured and soft they look. The colors are KILLING ME.

Scene from their new showroom which I believe they now have in the D & D building!

Showroom. And their carpets are off to the left!

Oh god, I love that color pink against the grey/beige window pane plaid.

On the website, they point out that the new line is "not just for the home, but for private yachts, planes and helicopters as well." I'm not even offended or saddened by that because I'm blinded by love.

Alicia B.